Dog trainers often report that their dogs are the barefoot cobbler’s children; they never get trained. We have busy, often insane schedules. We have families. We probably even have other interests (gasp!). But should we allow our dogs to go by the wayside? When we are immersed in dog training all day, how important is it to prioritize some dog training for our personal animals?

In a word: essential. It’s vital to our lives, our dogs’ lives, and our careers. So how do we make sure it gets done?

Block it Out

Anything else we need to be sure we do just gets written into our schedules, and its time dog training took that kind of precedence. I make a training plan for each week based on my core skills I am working on and I dedicate a few minutes to training every day, if not more. I have a friend who has a master calendar of training skills her dogs are working on, and she reviews this calendar for a few minutes each morning to be sure she knows what will get done that day. You probably already guessed this, but she is an effective trainer. If I need to correspond with clients, develop new material for online courses, and write this blog, I block out the time to do so. I do not consider these tasks optional. Dog training is like that for me.

Arrange Your Antecedents

Part of behavior change is making desired behaviors easily accessible, and we can apply this to ourselves. To help yourself train, have your stuff ready to roll and a plan ready to go. A whiteboard in your training space with notes on what you’re working on currently can help avoid the what-to-train paralysis, while a basket of training supplies readily available will make hopping right into training easy.

Hobbies or Not

I realize not all professional trainers are also hobby trainers, but we probably all live with dogs, and training is good for them. If you’re involved in sports like dog agility or obedience it’s probably pretty easy to have training goals laid out, but husbandry skills and life skills are just as important to work on. “I don’t do dog sports,” really isn’t an excuse to never train your dogs!

Use it Or Lose it

It’s true of all applied skills; use it or lose it. Flexing your training muscle will up your game and it will show in your clientele. I can typically tell which trainers actually train dogs regularly, versus the many trainers who teach people much more than they actually train dogs. Human instruction is a huge part of our industry but actual dog training needs to remain a top consideration. Whether we ever train our clients’ dogs or not (I don’t) we need to be good, practiced trainers to be able to help them.

I’m off to work Felix’s teeter end behavior and Idgie’s scent articles. What are you waiting for? Go train your dogs!

]]>https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/08/09/cobblers-children/feed/0cogdogtrainer1184876_10201323761569108_662260374_nIMG_4539IMG_4540Dogs Gotta Eathttps://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/08/02/dogs-gotta-eat/
https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/08/02/dogs-gotta-eat/#respondWed, 02 Aug 2017 09:00:17 +0000http://thecognitivecanine.com/?p=7019More Dogs Gotta Eat]]>“Treats don’t work for my dog,” the man said as he waved a crunchy milk bone under his lab’s nose while the other dogs milled around, working on their obedience skills.

“She just isn’t food motivated,” the woman stated as she tried to lure her sheltie out from under a chair with bits of bacon and cheese.

“My breed doesn’t have food drive,” I was told by the breeder/trainer/handler of fill-in-the-blank high-drive sport or working dogs.

“You know, he’s just never been very hungry,” the elderly couple explained as they gestured toward their obese dachshund.

There are countless scenarios like this from my career, and every dog trainer I know could list off a dozen or so more. To us, it is clear why the dog in each scenario is not interested in food, yet the people attached to them pass it off as “low food drive” and dig themselves very deep holes in training. Simply put, food is the most valuable currency we have when it comes to our dogs, and it is the easiest reinforcer for us to use. Dogs must be motivated to be trained and if we decide to leave force, pain, or fear off the table that leaves us with stuff the dog likes as motivators. All animals (you, me, the chickens clucking outside my window, the fly buzzing around the room, my dogs, and all the rest) are motivated to eat. If they we weren’t we’d starve to death. When dogs do not appear to be motivated to gain access to food there is usually a culprit that has nothing to do with his innate desire to eat (or not).

Competing Motivators

Often our dogs are hit with several competing motivators at once. Other dogs in class, people trying to pet them, squirrels running by, dogs barking in the agility ring, the list goes on and on. To understand this better, here is a human scenario: you are behind the wheel and your phone alerts you to a text message. Now you are faced with competing motivators: check your phone or keep driving. We all *know* what the right answer is in this scenario but there are factors at play. How severe are the penalties for texting and driving where you live? How close are you to the major problem texting and driving creates for our society; have you been personally affected? Are you sitting at a traffic light or hurtling down the highway? Have you been expecting this text? You can see how many different things there are to consider, and this is just two competing motivators. Now consider your dog in the park or the agility trial; he has competing motivators everywhere. The key here is to match your motivator (the food you wish to use) against these competitors. You might need to whip out the big guns (baked liver with garlic powder, chicken boiled in honey-water, steak seared rare, etc.) if you need to compete. Dry biscuits and kibble usually won’t cut it.

Incompatible Emotional States

A dog that turns its nose up at the delectable meat treats I mentioned above is either sick or terrified (of course, there are exceptions, and I explain those below). The sheltie above was too scared to eat; period. I am a hungry person by nature; there are few motivators that outweigh food for me. However, intense anxiety will shut off my desire to eat in a second. Even my favorite foods will not appeal to me if I am tied in a knot with fear and dread; your dog is no different. Most dogs will eat if they feel safe. Don’t forget how important it is to be sure their safety is clear to them.

History of Punishment

People make this error often without realizing it; they present their dog with something tasty just before doing something unpleasant to their dog. Baths, shots, toenails, the list of ugly things we have to do to dogs is a lengthy one. We can use food to lessen the blow, but we should use it after we do the yucky thing, not before. Humans also tend to freak out on their dogs if they eat “human food.” I have met more than a few pet dogs that were afraid of anything other than dog food; they’d learned it was not safe to eat it around humans. More subtle than this obvious case of backwards conditioning is the history of punishment people attach to food during training. If you mix treats with aversives, are a confusing shaper, or have lured your dog coercively you may have some conditioned punishment attached to your food just like the person who presents a hunk of cheese and then leads his dog to the bathtub. As always, check yourself and your skills.

History of Reinforcement

My dogs are always really into food. They are border collies, a breed that can be notoriously finicky, and they all go through a period in adolescence when they’d really rather not eat (yes, even Idgie). Regardless, they all turn into totally starving sharks. They also like toys. Even though Felix had an unfortunate incident in which somebody hit him with a hard rolled jute tug because she is a complete klutz, he is a tugging fiend. I chalk my dogs’ relatively even (Idgie would choose food if given the option, and Felix would choose a ball, but both would work for either food or toys) desire for toys and food to a history of reinforcement. Throughout their lives and I am sure to never muddy my valuable reinforcers with negative experiences, confusion, or fear (as best as possible). When I bust out the treats it doesn’t just mean eating; it means a fun game. When the toys come down it means high-adrenaline games. My dogs enjoy these things. People who have dogs with “high toy drive” and little-no “food drive” are probably subject to uneven reinforcement history here; their handlers like training with toys so that’s where they focus their energy. The same goes for dogs that only work for food. It is up to us all to build up a reinforcement history for all of the motivators we would like to employ.

Free Stuff

Throughout my career I have witnessed a powerful truth: we all value free stuff less than earned stuff. The obese dachshund in the scenario above was free-fed at home. He had food available to him 24/7 and so no, he didn’t value it very much. Plenty of dogs that lacked interest in toys also had constant free access to numerous types of toys around the house. While this was not always the case, contrafreeloading, or the idea that animals prefer to work for their resources, rings true. I never suggest that an animal be deprived in the name of training; they should get their caloric allotment daily regardless of how training goes. I do, however, encourage everyone to use those calories wisely when working or living with animals. Every kibble counts.

The next time you say or hear of a dog lacking food motivation, rather than jumping to fasting or better treats consider whether or not there is a greater reason the dog doesn’t seem to be interested in this basic need.

]]>https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/08/02/dogs-gotta-eat/feed/0cogdogtrainercan_dogs_eat_peas_herocan-dogs-eat-pork-rib-bonesfoodHow much do we risk?https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/07/26/how-much-do-we-risk/
Wed, 26 Jul 2017 14:00:31 +0000http://thecognitivecanine.com/?p=6977More How much do we risk?]]>Last weekend, at nearly 26 months of age, Felix debuted in agility. He wasn’t ready for all classes so we played in three: snooker, gamblers, and jumpers. I agonized over when to bring him out; I worked diligently over months to prepare him emotionally for what is required of our dogs in this game we love. It could be argued that I am too obsessive; too particular. That maybe I should worry less and go with the flow a little more. Let me explain something, if I may.

I am terrified of dog-child interactions. Not just my dogs. Not just children I personally know and care about. Any time a child’s face is within striking distance of a dog’s mouth I get nervous. I hope to have my niece (she is two and a half now and lives in a different state) out for a visit sometime, and when she is here, my dogs will be in crates or basket muzzles. No exceptions. Excessive? Maybe. But her face (and, subsequently, my dogs’ lives) are not worth the gamble. I worked in the behavior trenches too long to see this differently. I stood next to dogs as they slipped into death by the euthanasia needle because they bit children. I cried with a close friend as her child went to surgery after their lovely dog made a scary mistake. I advised that shelter dogs not be adopted out, that beloved household dogs be re-homed, and I agonized over the families that were broken because humans forget that dogs are animals with mouths full of teeth.

My apprehension about trialling a young dog is not unlike my stress surrounding dogs and children. I make my living helping people undo the mess that is made when dogs that are inadequately trained, prepared, or supported are entered in agility trials. Not unlike the dogs-and-kids issue, most people get away with this. That’s why it continues. Dogs, by and large, are incredible. They put up with a lot of crap from humans (especially tiny humans). There is no one more grateful or aware of that than I am. I decided Felix was ready to play based on the answers to these questions:

Is my dog comfortable in the trial environment?

Since Felix was a baby this has been a high priority. I want him to feel safe around the people, the dogs, the noises, and the general chaos that is agility trials. He eats and tugs ringside, he can visit (or not) with dogs and people, and he can even lie next to the ring and chew a ball while other dogs are running. He has been like this for a few months now. After trialling, I am still happy with my answer here.

Is my dog confident in his execution of the equipment?

This is why I didn’t enter Felix in everything; and why I avoided some obstacles in gamblers. We were lucky that snooker only involved jumps and tunnels, but if it had included one of the pieces we were avoiding we’d have scratched or somehow worked around it. He told me his confidence about double and triple jumps is still not where I’d like it; I allowed him to run past them and did not insist that he take them. We have a plan for this, and I was thrilled with his confident execution of both the wall and broad jumps.

Am I confident that I can be a good handler to my dog?

On starters courses, yes. I am careful not to over face my dog with tougher courses right away, though those are what we do at home. I just don’t know him well enough yet to enter him in tournaments. That’s ok with me. After the trial I know that I need to trust my answer here a bit more and show up as the same handler in trials that I am in training.

Does my dog understand how to sequence in the absence of classic reinforcers?

Admittedly, I didn’t work on this for long enough. I felt comfortable going in, which is why Felix ran with the same delight that he does when I have a toy, but he was slightly puzzled when we ended and didn’t immediately go into a tug game. I have showed him the process of ending, leashing up, and heading over to the toy, but I’d say he hasn’t seen this enough times. Back to the drawing board.

I learned a lot from this experience and know what I need to work on. We are not ready to dive in head-first, but we are ready to dip the other foot into the water. In any case, I really enjoy playing with Felix, and I think he likes playing with me. As I often say, as long as the dog is still happy nothing is broken.

We’ve heard these things. We’ve said these things. What if it’s not the dogs, but us? What if each time we try to describe our dog’s behavior (or lack thereof) to a trainer or friend we are zeroing in on the wrong end of the leash? And further, if the responsibility rests squarely on the human half, how are we to address the very real problems people are facing with their dogs when they make the above statements? Three words: clarity, confidence, and consent.

Clarity

Dissecting what it truly means to be a clear trainer and handler is a vital process to solving any and all behavioral concerns in our dogs. Clear communication is the key that unlocks the box labeled “solutions.” Training with clean mechanics and a sharply defined vernacular, handling with consistent body language, and lighting the way to reinforcement for your dog will always spell success. If your dog gets stressed or shuts down in training examine your training language; are your marker signals steady and information-packed? When dogs struggle in competition but less so in class, this often has to do with readily-available reinforcers (that cookie in your hand) outweighing the confusion they occasionally feel when you make handling mistakes (as we all do).

Confidence

It is our job to inspire confidence in our dogs. Can we help ourselves by picking confident puppies? Sure, but what if you have a dog that lacks self-confidence? A dog that quits in the face of problems, cowers under the pressure of a trial, or checks out at the first glimmer of frustration? Rather than slap them with labels like “frustration intolerant” or “low-drive” we should examine our training practices. We can show dogs that they can do hard things by providing them with puzzles they can easily solve. We can recognize that what we are asking is actually a lot, and we can be careful not to ask too much. If we see a dog’s confidence wavering we can recognize that as a big problem; bigger than a missed contact or weave entry, bigger than a slow teeter or knocked bars.

Consent

Finally, we can always get permission. Have you bothered to ask your dog what he’d like to do lately? Does he push his way out of the crate when you’ve arrived at agility class, or must you coax him? When you train your other dog, is he content to remain benched? Asking our dogs if they would like to participate in the numerous things we have on our agendas is a novel idea, and one we can all explore. Whether it involves the subtle ways they can tell us they are opting in or a thoroughly trained language of consent, we should be asking. And we should be accepting their answers; always.

So if you’ve said any of the above phrases, perhaps it’s time to look down that leash and say, “I guess it’s not you, it’s me.” Then come and join me in learning more about how we can get clear, inspire confidence, and ask for consent in my upcoming course.

]]>cogdogtrainer12106724_10156115673385104_8958011528372891814_n18952922_10211822793038333_5068840123567725564_nWhat A Young Dog Can Tell Ushttps://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/07/12/what-a-young-dog-can-tell-us/
https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/07/12/what-a-young-dog-can-tell-us/#commentsWed, 12 Jul 2017 16:00:47 +0000http://thecognitivecanine.com/?p=6889More What A Young Dog Can Tell Us]]>About a month ago my little guy Felix turned two. I expect to continue to learn about him every day for the rest of his life, but at two, I think we finally start to know who our dogs are. They are no longer babies, and not yet adults. They exhibit more adult behaviors, they have more adult needs and interests, and they are more self-sufficient. If we pay attention, we see their personalities becoming solid; their responses to any given scenario becoming constant; and their passions becoming more intense.

Felix is no different and I think a few of the things I have learned about him might be helpful for others raising border collies or any intense breeds, so here they are:

The Mind is Like a Muscle

The mind needs what muscles need; push it to its limits and it will strengthen. Push it too far and you’ll damage it. Stretching it is healthy; straining it not so much. Felix has always needed time to be ready to learn the tasks I present him with, but without exception, when he is ready he learns quickly and easily. He never lacks for enthusiasm. If he isn’t ready to learn something he will show me with confusion, stagnation, or disinterest. This is typically as subtle as being slow to return his toy, or taking an extra few seconds to search the ground for cookies after I toss one for him. I would never want to see more blatant signs that he is not ready; if that happens I have not done my job as a trainer. I continue to stretch his mind, and he continues to stretch mine. We are good for each other here.

Passions Are Tough to Undo

Being passionately enthusiastic about something is just as hard to undo as being passionately afraid. Felix is a passionate guy; there is little he is neutral about. I have done a good job of building a passion for toys, a passion for food (yes, eating is an operant behavior–if you have a border collie that isn’t hot on food, keep that in mind), and most importantly a passion for learning. If I haven’t done a training session with him he will tell me, loud and clear, that he will require a lesson before he will allow me to relax for the evening. We can create a monster if we always give in to our dogs’ requests to work; thus far Felix only demands training if I have slacked that day, so I consider it fair and don’t worry about it. There are a few things that frighten him; things falling over or being dropped is at the top of the list. This fear stems from a particular unfortunate incident with a loose metal baby gate during a fear period; it is not debilitating but will probably always exist. I keep it in mind and avoid situations where there might be a lot of things falling over (during set up and tear down at agility trials, for instance). I did enough work on this that I feel comfortable that he can deal with something falling over in a working situation, and having knocked over enough jump wings in the meantime, I can say I am happy with the results. What our dogs feel passionate about tends to show up in earnest around this age which is why most aggression problems rear their heads here. Felix is passionate about water. I have nothing to do with this, and yet, he sees/smells/hears a body of water on a walk and he becomes desperate to get to it. Countering that passion would be nonsense, so I work with it. I ask him if he can do a behavior for me, and when he says yes I let him run to the water. If your dog is passionate about squirrels, the food on your counters, or anything else that may not be helpful to you, my highest advice is to work with it rather than against it.

Coping Counts

This is the time that our dogs’ preferred coping mechanisms for daily stressors also start to become consistent. The thought that our dogs will never require coping mechanisms because they should never feel that stressed is fallacy. That stress-free world does not exist for us, and it doesn’t exist for our dogs either. Some dogs are wired to be higher-stress than others, and the dogs we choose for sports are at the top of that list. Why do these things go together? Because they are passionate beasts that live in extreme states. The duller the dog the lower stress they are; and the last thing we want in a sport companion is dullness. Pay attention to your young dog’s coping mechanisms. Does he cling to you? Get snarky? Seek a hiding spot? Chew stuff up? Forage for food? Bark at stuff? Whatever it is, time to give your dog an acceptable way to access his coping mechanism now. If I drop a pan in the kitchen that will scare Felix and he will hide for a little while (not long). I find that to be not only an acceptable coping mechanism but an easy one to provide. If when I dropped a pan he alarm barked, bit me, bit one of his siblings, or started gnawing on my coffee table, we’d have to work something else out; something that still served the purpose of coping for him. Luckily, that’s not the case. But other times when he might choose barking or another undesirable coping mechanism I can send him to his hiding spot on cue, reinforce that behavior, and carry on. Over time, I have watched him choose his hiding spot (which is his crate or a spot in my bedroom; we are not talking about a dog that hides in the far reaches of the earth) when he may have chosen other mechanisms, and I think that’s a good result. When Idgie is stressed she likes to forage (counter surfing, opening cabinets, etc.) so I give her a puzzle toy if things are hard. Ghost likes to bark, so we ask her for cues in exchange for food treats. Recognize that a lot of the behaviors we don’t care for are just coping mechanisms for our dogs and that we should be helping them to cope in acceptable ways; not trying to remove their access to coping.

I am really excited that Felix is growing up, and I have some fun stuff in store for him. He went to his first trial where he ran in the new USDAA miscellaneous classes and got to make his own course and have a toy in the ring. Soon, he will run “for real” and I will evaluate whether I think he is ready to start competing or not. As Dr. Susan Friedman says, behavior is always a study of one. We should not compare our young dogs to our past dogs, or our friends’ dogs. We must only observe their behavior and respond accordingly. Most of all, we should cherish them. As I look at Idgie’s career beginning to wind down that part feels more important than ever.

Look at my amazing national/regional/seminar/whatever video set to cool music!

Check out this training session in which I made zero mistakes and my dog learned long division!

Listen, I get it. I post that stuff, too. It’s important. We should celebrate the goodness in our dogs. We should do it all the time. I make a habit of it; I do it every day.

But the idea that these great things (the Qs, the events, the perfect training sessions) can’t exist alongside really hard things (behavior concerns, personal incompatibilities, training struggles, and even illness) is hurting us. I know it hurts me. So here’s my stuff; the stuff I am ready to share:

Kelso was a MACH, OTCH-pointed, lovely Novice-A dog. He adored every human he ever met. He was drop dead gorgeous, charming, and ideal in more ways than not. I loved him with my entire heart; when I lost him it was like losing a limb. For almost half of my life he was my guide, my angel, my anchor.
And: he was severely and pathologically dog-aggressive from a young age. He had so little interest in play that I stuffed chicken in a sock and tried to get him to play with it to no avail. He was five years old before he and I truly connected because I was ravaged by grief when I got him and much of our first few years was not much more than my hideous mistakes and his disturbing behavior problems. I did things to him–in an effort to help him–that I can never reconcile. I cried over him as much as I smiled or laughed. He hurt me as much as not.

Kelso

And: I was a severely depressed teenager when he entered my life. His problems were a gift because as screwed up as he was I was much worse. When I focused on his training and his problems I could forget mine. When I could speak about his issues it gave me a platform on which to do hard things; something I would have to do repeatedly to heal myself. Watching your beloved dog sink his teeth into another person’s beloved dog is a gut-wrenching experience: watching your own hand cause the same kind of harm to yourself is another thing entirely. I don’t think I have completely uncovered what Kelso did for me; but I know that had he been the joyous problem-free golden retriever my teachers wanted for me I might not be where I am today.

Idgie is a dream come true. MACH, ADCH, CD, RE, and SO MUCH MORE. She is smarter than I am on my best days, she is braver than me on my worst. I am not sure if she is my spirit animal or if I am hers; but we are a pair and a team each second of each day. Anything I want to teach her she learns, and she learns it quickly. All trainers should be blessed with such a willing and intelligent pupil.

Idgie

And: her separation anxiety is a daily challenge for us both. My shame surrounding it can be crippling; I know it is my fault. Her inability to cope with sudden changes to her environment can be quite challenging, and I have worked so hard to help her feel safe when a new dog or person appears on the trail we thought we had to ourselves. She struggles immensely with my partner’s oldest dog; she has from day one. When she decides she doesn’t like someone there really is no changing her mind; be they dog, person, cat, horse, or otherwise. The opposite is also true: once her friend, you can do a lot and still be given a pass.
And: She is me. And I am her. She’d not have separation anxiety if I didn’t. She is my superhero cape; without her I may not have survived the countless doctor appointments and surgeries I had to have a couple of years ago because of a rare unexpected malignancy in my body. I have traveled the world with her help. I have become a brave person because she has the same kind of anxiety and she overcomes it. When there is a scary thing, we huddle together, we hold each other, we chant our battle cry. I am scared all the time, every day, and yet I carry on. I only know how to do that because I watched a little farm dog do the same.

Felix. Oh, my sweet Felix. He is love embodied. He is the squishiest, loveliest, mushiest creature there is. He is pressed against me right now, I am typing around him. He is enthused, smart, and sweet. He is what people want when they get a dog to be active with.

Felix

And: There are no grey areas with Felix. Every single second of his day is black or white. He is either ecstatically in love or terribly afraid. He is either leaping, all four feet off the ground, with utter zest for life or hiding under the bed; unable to cope with our changing household. (A house full of moving boxes, falling items, and stressed dogs and humans is a lot for us all). He is either full-on hugging a new friend; licking their face and whining with joy or he is barking: STAY BACK. He is the most impressionable dog I have ever had; my fears (particularly, my fear of strange men in strange places) become his fears. My other dogs’ behaviors become his behaviors. What an enormous neon sign: be brave, Felix is watching. I continue to take a deep breath, tell myself I am safe, and “fake it till I make it” each time I come across something that I fear, so that he doesn’t have to live like I do. While Idgie showed me how to be brave, Felix reminds me why it is important to be.
And: When I flew to Florida to get Felix I was suffering. Kelso had just died months prior and my body was still responding as if it had a gaping abdominal wound. I was still crying myself to sleep on the regular, I still couldn’t hear certain songs on the radio without pulling over to sob, and I still had sudden flashes of his last moments like disturbing movie flashbacks. A little voice inside me feared I’d be unable to love Felix the way I already thought I did because of the overwhelming grief I felt. But when I sat down in the airport at my gate and unzipped my sherpa bag he came out, crawled onto my chest, rested his head on my neck, and I cried the tears of a homecoming; the tears only belonging brings. He and I have been connected by a deep thread ever since. I have never before or since loved anything or anyone so fully, so quickly. What an amazing lesson for a person to learn.

So know this, dog people: it’s all a catch-22. Nothing is one way if not the other. We get to love dogs that are problematic. We get to hate behavior problems we are faced with while we enjoy training ease. We can enjoy a cushy home life while we struggle in training class. The idea that all things must be one way and not the other is a fallacy; it is never actually true. So post your amazing trial video. Instagram your hiking shots. It does not undo or discount the fight you had on the start line or the incident you had with the strange dog on the trail. And guess what? That is actually ok.

]]>https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/06/14/getting-real/feed/10cogdogtrainerKelsowerun16904816_10210857233579950_81975812849589211_oReality Bites (and so do dogs)https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/06/07/reality-bites-and-so-do-dogs/
https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/06/07/reality-bites-and-so-do-dogs/#commentsWed, 07 Jun 2017 09:00:30 +0000http://thecognitivecanine.com/?p=6761More Reality Bites (and so do dogs)]]>Dog attacks are all over the media right now. Dog on dog, dog on elderly human, dog on airline passenger, you name it. I can’t open my computer or look at my phone without being bombarded by brutal tales of dogs biting, mauling, and generally savaging humans and other dogs. As a person who loves dogs on a deep and spiritual level, it is painful to see. As a person who has been personally affected by dog bites and attacks, it is all too familiar. As a professional, it is absolutely maddening.
What do Dug the golden and the dogs in the articles above have in common? A mouth full of teeth.

“Solutions” abound; mandatory muzzles, breed-specific legislation, and public access regulation changes for dogs are all on the list. Criticisms and unplaced blame also run rampant. When someone vulnerable–be it elderly woman or ten pound poodle–is killed by a dog everyone wants someone to blame. The breed, the owners, the corporate pet food store, the craigslist-ad-placer, the breeder, the trainer; blame flies like stray arrows when tragedy strikes. None of this is helpful; so what is? What can be done?

The Statistics

According to the CDC 4.5 million dog bites occur in the United States each year. There are about 89.7 million dogs alive in the US today. That means that roughly 5% of dogs will commit a reported bite in their lifetime. These statistics only reflect dog on human bites, we don’t have accurate data on dog to dog attacks to my knowledge, but I would wager it is at least twice this number if not much more. Statistically, we are at much higher risk from bees and wasps than dogs. Why are we even worrying about this? Most common over the counter medications hold greater than a 5% risk to our health, and if getting behind the wheel only held a 5% risk we’d all rejoice at the new safety we had on the roads. When something has a 95% safety margin, we are usually pleased.

Kenobi is just a baby; and his humans are very realistic about the mouth of teeth he is growing.

The difference is that dogs are members of our household; they are family. 5% risk that a family member will cause us bodily harm isn’t as comforting as the 5% risk of a medication that does not know and love us. When a dog bites, we are hurt in ways that extend far beyond the typically-minor injuries dog bites cause. Still, one in three women in the United States will experience violence from a partner in this year alone; and that is based on reported cases. Yet when a person kills another person with whom they are intimate, this only makes national news when the people in question are somehow famous or “important.” Dog attacks are far less common than spousal attacks; plain and simple.

The Facts

We’ve established that the overwhelming response to dog attacks and bites is related much more to our emotions regarding these creatures than the actual statistical risk of being around them. But there is a risk to having a dog in your home, and the smartest thing we can do here is to get real about that risk. Dogs are not human beings, they are not helpless animals, they are predators with a mouth full of weapons; weapons they are born knowing how to use.

It is easy to forget that under that marshmallow fluff Tudey has a mouth of teeth; but she does. She lives with children and her human never forgets it.

Some breeds are more capable of causing harm than others, and some breeds are in fact more likely to do so. Saying an American Pit Bull Terrier is more capable of harm than a Maltese is a fact (generally speaking). Certain breeds are more prone to stranger-directed aggression, some to dog-directed aggression, and some have low ease of socialization. These are the facts; and we would all do better to accept and embrace them. What happens when we do so is we acknowledge that these animals we choose to live in intimate connection with are capable of causing injury or even death with their teeth. What happens when we admit this is everyone is safer.

The Answer

It isn’t a shiny new law. It isn’t a regulation on big dogs, bully dogs, or even off-leash dogs. It isn’t even changing how people train, breed, or sell dogs (though all of those things could use some reform). It’s deciding today that YOU are going to look at your dog differently.

My duty is to protect Idgie, which means protecting those around her by acknowledging her nature-given weapon.

YOU are going to accept that yes, even your lovely dog can bite, because they all can. When we start treating these incidents as the unfortunate and inevitable price we must pay for having these animals so tightly woven into our lives we will see them reduce. Why? Because no one can prevent something that they can’t predict. Assume the dog will bite and go from there as opposed to assuming he won’t and then scrambling to fix things when he does. Lucky for all of us, it’s a relatively low risk. But treat it that way and we will only see it increase.

]]>https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/06/07/reality-bites-and-so-do-dogs/feed/1cogdogtrainer18699358_10211668827189283_1379735100869176261_o18921051_10211760697565985_9092380250315315983_o12291314_10207159769305654_7699201050661813754_o18814738_10211743429574296_6255505401613921460_oThe Trouble With “Fetch”https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/05/24/the-trouble-with-fetch/
https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/05/24/the-trouble-with-fetch/#commentsWed, 24 May 2017 09:00:32 +0000http://thecognitivecanine.com/?p=6681More The Trouble With “Fetch”]]>Many, many times in my career I have advised a client to cease playing fetch with her highly adrenalized dog as a part of our work together to help her dog have better overall mental health. It is not about never throwing a toy for these dogs; it’s about replacing their current avenue for exercise with a healthier one. Though the feedback I have received from my clients on this remains 100% positive (and they are reasonably skeptical when I suggest it!) opinions on this abound, and the topic has appeared in a lot of excellent blogs lately. For anyone who is furrowing their brow wondering what could be wrong with tossing a ball in the park, know the culprit isn’t actually the game; it’s how the dog feels about it.

Hi, my name is Sparky, and I’m a fetchaholic…

Is your dog a ball-addict? Obsessed with the chuck-it? While to say a dog has an addiction or an obsession is gross anthropomorphism, we can often describe their behavior as appearing desperate, frantic, anxious, or excited. We can do this because there are actions both voluntary and involuntary that we can assign to these emotions. A dog that will run until his tongue is swollen, his eyes bloodshot, and his breath labored, has prioritized something above his own personal cooling mechanisms and care. While this might be normal for a wolf in hot pursuit of a deer, it is less normal for a labrador in hot pursuit of a hunk of rubber. In the case of the wolf, things are life and death; that is why he will exert himself in this way. In the case of our dogs the game of fetch is often also life or death in their minds–this is why it’s not a healthy emotional state for them to be placed in day after day. Consider the stress hormones pumping through the blood of both the wolf in pursuit of his meal and the deer in pursuit of her life; these are the same hormones rushing through your dog’s veins when you toss the ball. It takes time to flush the system of these hormones; but we return to the park night after night.

Not all exhaustion is created equal

It is quite possible for a person to be exhausted and drained; while it is also quite possible to be exhausted and fulfilled; satisfied. If I spend an entire day in air travel I am exhausted when I reach my destination. I sleep hard, but it does not feel good. I am often still tired the next day. Conversely if I get up early, drive to the mountains and hike all day, I am exhausted when I return home. But it feels amazing. I feel peaceful, tired, and fulfilled. I sleep well and awake refreshed, if sore. Why are these two things different? The body is exhausted; the person may look the same, slumped in a chair or hotel room bed. They look different because one thing produced stress hormones and the other relieved them. This is the cardinal difference between standard types of exercise for dogs (fetch in the park, regimented leash walks, even agility class) and what I call decompression walks.

The very special power of the decompression walk

Do you have an activity that allows you to unwind from the daily stresses of life? Reading a book, sipping a hot drink at a favorite coffee shop, watching the sun set on the horizon from your porch; these are typical ways human beings release the stress hormones in their bodies. The decompression activity dogs and people share is the long walk in nature. Like dogs, we vary. Beaches, forests, mountain climbs; to each their own! What they all have in common is a disconnection from the buzz of daily life, physical exercise, and the sights, sounds, and smells of the natural world. The further from traffic noise and cell service the better; and for some of us solitude is also vital. My ideal is a dirt path mostly shaded along a rushing river that ends at the alpine lake from which the river flows; snowy peaks in the background–not a sign of human life as far as I can see (aside perhaps from a good two-legged hiking companion). One of my dogs agrees fully; the other likes a long sprint on an open beach, feet kicking up the surf. Kelso, I choose to believe, is racing through a field of mountain wildflowers for all eternity; that was his heaven. It doesn’t actually matter where or how; what matters is that when you’re through you feel it in your bones. You’ve touched something primal; you’ve relaxed without the aid of prescriptions, beverages, or electronics. When you’re home you eat, you rest, and you are better prepared both mentally and physically for what life demands. Your dog craves this on a deeper level; while you can meet a friend for coffee, catch a matinee, or crack a favorite novel he is stuck in our world; eons from the scavenging village dogs and hunting wolves from which he descends.

What is best?

Because I talk about appropriate exercise all the time I get this question often: so what kind of exercise is actually best? The answer is, of course, it depends. I have known dogs that became so highly adrenalized from an off leash run in a field that they took days to recover. Plenty of dogs are very triggered by off leash dogs approaching them, so off-leash legal areas might be off-limits for them. We can’t sit our dogs down to ask them, so the best thing to do is the only thing we can ever do with reliability; observe behavior. One of my dogs exhibits increased problematic behaviors (dog-directed resource guarding and alarm barking at noises) when he goes on leash walks on concrete in my neighborhood. The same dog exhibits a decrease in these behaviors and an increase in REM sleep when he goes on off leash hikes even if the hikes are short. For him, the answer is clear. You must observe your dog and try multiple avenues to know what the right answer is. There is nothing inherently wrong with a leash walk, a game of fetch, or a trot on a treadmill. We must observe our dogs to know what is best.

Last I checked, a ball wasn’t a sheep. Or a bird. Or a rat.

One of the most typical arguments I face when I gently suggest that people might put down the chuck-it and pick up the hiking boots is that certain breeds are highly energetic, highly intelligent, and require a “job” to do. I certainly don’t argue with this. But I don’t kid myself: agility courses are not sheep. A tennis ball is not a bird. Birch oil isn’t a rat. And a frisbee certainly isn’t a flock of cattle.

We who chose to live with creatures whose genes make them highly specialized for certain tasks are mostly falling short. That doesn’t mean we can’t do our absolute best, and in my experience, our best is usually a mountainside more than a suburban park.

]]>https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/05/24/the-trouble-with-fetch/feed/3cogdogtrainer14138823_10209241273981970_3149690107717178864_o13735659_10208966635356176_5601682496949952968_o11698959_10206333711854734_540866763571767742_o16904816_10210857233579950_81975812849589211_o11535908_10206124829152797_2638784393481691677_nidgiemitchelllakePuzzles and Presence: a Puppy Updatehttps://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/05/17/puzzles-and-presence-a-puppy-update/
Wed, 17 May 2017 09:00:20 +0000http://thecognitivecanine.com/?p=6604More Puzzles and Presence: a Puppy Update]]>A few weeks ago I wrote about my sister’s new puppy. He’s healthy now, taking on the world, and has thrown my sister–who hasn’t had a puppy of her own for about 15 years–a few curveballs. I learn from every puppy I raise, and from all of my clients puppies, and I am learning from little Kenobi (formerly Cosmos) too.

Right off the bat, Megan got a care package from me full of stuff-to-feed-the-puppy-out-of. Toppls, Kongs, and slow bowls galore! This kid eats with his brain, and it has helped to cut down on other ways puppies use their brains that are not so fun for humans. When a puppy’s snout is stuffed in a Toppl, he is not also biting ankles or chewing shoes. This seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be amazed how easy it is to just put food in a bowl instead. Resist! No bowls for puppies!

Contrary to what countless books, websites, blogs, and other sources may have us all believe, it is common for puppies to not take easily to being crated. Kebobi is a shining example; he is a skilled escape artist and not pleased with confinement. Adult dogs may need to be confined so it is wise for us to work hard on this skill. Kenobi is in an ex-pen with his crate, puzzle toys and other toys, for a few hours each day. Megan works hard to help him be tired when he goes in there, but she did notice he would vocalize when she first left, as well as when she first arrived home. When we discussed it I went right to work building a plan to help Kenobi feel safer in confinement. While each and every one of us has probably raised a puppy that was ignored as he wailed and whined from the crate or pen and turned out just fine, when we know better we really ought to do better and the research is clear: allowing a baby mammal to cry until they give up is not a smart thing to do.

First, I had Megan get Presence, a fantastic free app that allows her to video-monitor Kenobi via her iPad, on her iPhone, while at work (she is a professional dog walker and pet sitter) so that we could be aware of how much vocalizing and what, if any, stress behaviors were occurring. We found that certain times of the day it was easier for the little guy to relax, and we upped the puzzles and play for other times. We were also able to rest-assured that he was not having a panic attack when left alone. Megan was also able to make some alterations because plastic crates make great escape routes from ex-pens for brave young pups.

Very important for all puppies is a plan for positive exposure to the outside world. We call this socialization, and while the jury may be out on how much weight is bears against a dog’s genetics in terms of adult behavior there is enough evidence to make me value proper socialization for pups I am involved with. Carefully armed with treats, an appropriate harness and leash, and the ability to say NO to humans that might be intrusive, Kenobi has been gradually and systematically exposed to the world.

Because of his early illness he wasn’t permitted to socialize with other young puppies at first, and as soon as he was cleared to meet some adult dogs he was allowed to do so. So far he has taken the world in stride; cruising the hardware store, watching the foot traffic go by his front yard (he lives in a busy part of Denver with lots of passersby), and meeting some of the socially savvy dogs my sister walks. He is bound to meet something that scares him at some point, and when that happens Megan is prepared to give him the space he needs to observe it until he feels comfortable. So far he is all smiles and tail wags, loving his new life, as puppies should!

At home he is learning that cookies are more interesting than cats and chickens, that treats rain from the sky when loud noises happen, and that everyone that comes over is his friend. I get to meet him in a few weeks, and I am hoping he doesn’t grow up too much before then! He had a rough start but he really has a lot going for him, not the least of which being his awesome big sister Clementine and his loving new parents, my sister and brother-in-law. All puppies should be so lucky!

]]>cogdogtrainerIMG_4181.JPGIMG_4267.JPGIMG_4172.JPGFighting the Good Fight?https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/05/10/fighting-the-good-fight/
https://thecognitivecanine.com/2017/05/10/fighting-the-good-fight/#commentsWed, 10 May 2017 09:00:13 +0000http://thecognitivecanine.com/?p=6507More Fighting the Good Fight?]]>A lot of dog trainers really feel as though they are on the front lines; that there is a war being waged and they are either on the side of positive reinforcement or the side of “all the other stuff.” Organizations and groups have sprung up on either side, both believing that they are the ones fighting the good fight. The fight that helps dogs. The fight that keeps dogs in our lives.

And there’s the rub: we all actually want the same thing. So why are we fighting? What IS the “good fight”? The way I see it, there is a third front to stand on, that of quality dog training. Quality in the field is the good fight, and it’s not often what is being fought for. So what makes a quality dog trainer?

Beyond the Quadrants

So many trainers arguing online or elsewhere about methodology, tradition, and equipment lack a basic understanding of operant and classical conditioning. At its core, dog training is a learning theory field. Knowing that reinforcement and punishment are defined not by the trainer but by their functions, and that both classical and operant conditioning are natural forces at work in each moment is basic dog trainer education that too many lack. Myriad trainer websites state which of the four quadrants of operant conditioning they use, implying that they can cherrypick some and stop others from occurring like a wizard of learning forces wielding a quadrant wand. When we state that we “use operant conditioning” (or classical conditioning, for that matter) to train dogs we falsely imply that not everyone does. Being on the quality training front means understanding these things so well that we need not bore our clients with their details. It means instead that we focus on our mechanics and that of our clients so that we are communicating with our learners as effectively as possible. It means instead of engaging in a quadrant fight on a facebook thread we go do some actual dog training.

These guys don’t care HOW I throw the ball, as long as I throw the ball

Seminars, Conferences, Online Courses, Oh My!

Continuing education is a big deal. In our field of zero regulations and very few legitimate education paths, we must choose to keep learning. Being a constant student is the best way to improve the quality of your training, your services, and the field as a whole. Being a student means constantly seeking information, opening your mind to new ideas, and surrendering to the fact that you will never know it all. There are countless learning opportunities; not a single one of us has an excuse. Plan your education for the year like you plan your marketing, your training, and your vacations. Decide that it’s important. Keep learning. Keep growing. Reach beyond your comfort zone and take a course you know nothing about; humble yourself and attend workshops on things you think you already understand. Being a student is being vulnerable; get used to that feeling.

That Which Should Rule Us All

In our field many seem to be ruled by invisible gods. Some state they worship at the church or positive reinforcement; others pay their loyalty to the god of effectiveness at all costs. We should all be bowing down to the force that should rule us all; kindness. Kindness to dogs; kindness to people.

He watches over my work, reminding me to choose kindness at all turns

The quickest way to peace in this field or any other is through treating others with respect and humility. Know at your core that everyone, human, canine, and beyond, is doing the very best that they can. The dog that is snarling and snapping, barking and lunging, is doing his best. The client who shows up to your session with a pocket full of dry biscuits and a scared dog on a prong collar is doing her best. Do your best. Treat them both with kindness as you proceed with the work that must be done to make their best better than it is right now.

Effectiveness as a Core Value

We, as an industry, as dog trainers, must begin to take case resolution more seriously. Sadly trainers whose practices I respect often have websites that read like this: “We will never scare, shock, choke, or hit your dog. We will use treats and praise and make training fun! We do not use harsh methods.” When their competitor, the guy who puts an e-collar on everything from 9 week old cavalier with housetraining concerns to the cane corso with a bite history, has a website that simply states “We will fix your problem, no matter what it is.” This is not only an issue from a marketing standpoint, friends! It’s a reflection of a sad fact; too many trainers do not hold effectiveness as a core value in their work. If you’re not resolving cases you’re not making the world better for dogs; no matter how many cookies you sling. The good news is we can be effective and kind. Return to the top of the blog and re-read if you’re not sure how.

The Willingness to Bend

Finally, sometimes we have to bend. While I agree with Dr. Susan Friedman when she states “effectiveness is not enough” (meaning that just because something works doesn’t mean it should be on the table for use) I also know that if we are to hold effectiveness as a priority in our work that we must be flexible.

This is the life I want for all dogs. It’s not the life they all get to have. That has to be ok.

I routinely encourage my clients to feed a fresh raw diet out of puzzle toys and take their dogs on long off-leash excursions. I want dogs to be respected members of the household who are communicated with effectively. I love nothing more than seeing a dog appreciated and adored for the very special soul that he is. I also used to do behavior work in a veterinary clinic in the middle of nowhere, serving a clientele I know a lot of dog trainers are familiar with. One such client was an older woman living in a low income area. She had recently taken custody of her grandchildren and one of them had brought with him a young female pit bull. The dog had begun escaping from the yard and had already attacked two neighborhood dogs. The woman had called the clinic to have her euthanized. The good doctor I worked for doesn’t do convenience euthanasia and said she required a behavior consultation to proceed. The woman could have dumped the dog in a local shelter, but she made the appointment (which was neither free nor inexpensive). As I sat across from her in the exam room I asked my standard questions about the dog’s day to day life. When a dog is free-fed a cheap grocery store kibble, kept on a chain, and interacted with very little, it is clear my highest recommendations will be out of reach for this family. They reinforced their fencing to get the dog off the chain. They started feeding the dog out of used milk jugs she’d have to bat around and chew to extract the food from. With my help, the grandchild who loved the dog learned to play a two ball fetch game with her, as she could be possessive if he tried to take her toys. She is alive and hasn’t attacked any more dogs, to my knowledge. If I had been unwilling to bend in this situation, unwilling to think about what small steps were within reach for this family; if I had been blinded by my ideals, I think this dog would be dead. I had countless cases like that. They are why my clientele is really specific now; I don’t think those recommendations are the best use of my skills. But learning to adjust my expectations based on the case in front of me is a skill I will be forever grateful I have. More trainers need this lesson.

So the next time you want to click “share” on an article that crucifies another trainer or their methodology, you might think about sharing an article about our common goals instead. Or, better yet, an article that furthers the above points. Dog training as a field needs a serious facelift. It will only get it if we fight the truly good fight; that of quality in our field.